Environment
Public can comment on Hofmann Forest settlement between EPA, NC State Resources Foundation
The Environmental Protection Agency is soliciting public comment on a $160,000 settlement with the NC State Resources Foundation for violations of the Clean Water Act in Hofmann Forest. The deadline for comments is Sept. 7. In 2014, the EPA alleged contractors for the foundation illegally dredged 120 acres of wetlands in Hofmann Forest during timbering operations. Those […]
Meet Jeffrey Warren: The mastermind behind the state’s bad environmental laws could get a plum job at UNC
In mid-August, the high season’s last hurrah, the packed beach at Nags Head is veiled with blue umbrellas that match the color of the ocean and the sky. Yet at just three feet above sea level, Nags Head is sinking, and portions of the beach are receding, both natural geologic occurrences that have shaped the coastline for thousands of years.
Jeffrey Warren’s Greatest Hits
Jeffrey Warren: Geologist, former adjunct associate professor and recording artist of a kids’ rock album Synonym Toast, he is also a powerful architect of state environmental legislation.
Warren’s LinkedIn page lists 56 bills on which he says that he served as an “advisor/strategist” for the Senate. Most of the legislation focused on weakening environmental protections for the coast and water and air quality.
Panel of scientists, including several from N.C., disagree with EPA’s rosy fracking report
More than two dozen scientists, including several from N.C. State and UNC Chapel Hill, have criticized the Environmental Protection Agency's 2015 draft fracking report, stating it downplays the risks that horizontal drilling poses to local water supplies.
Panel of scientists, including several from N.C., disagree with EPA’s rosy fracking report
More than two dozen scientists, including several from N.C. State and UNC Chapel Hill, have criticized the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2015 draft fracking report, stating it downplays the risks that horizontal drilling poses to local water supplies. This is conclusion of the EPA’s independent science panel, which recently released its own report asking the agency to incorporate its findings, according […]
Who’s who at the EnergySure Coalition, backers of the Atlantic pipeline headed for North Carolina
While North Carolina is rightfully focused on the coal ash scandal, another environmental tug-of-war is strengthening in some of the state’s poorest areas. Co-owned by Duke Energy, Dominion, PSNC and AGL Resources, The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would ship natural gas 550 miles, from the fracking hotspot of West Virginia through sensitive, federally owned land in Virginia, and then into eastern North […]
Residents affected by coal ash contamination call for resignation of Tom Reeder, Randall Williams
When the coal ash blew through the air in Sue Fife’s yard in Person County, she initially didn’t know what it was. “I thought, ‘What is this stuff?'” she said Thursday, before a rally in support of state toxicologist Ken Rudo and former state epidemiologist Megan Davies. “It looked like fog.” Standing outside the governor’s […]
House Speaker Tim Moore’s recent $1.5 million pet project could directly benefit campaign treasurer, contributors
On June 27, state lawmakers were in the throes of hashing out the 2016-17 budget, when tucked on page 182, a new line item appeared, as if by magic: a $1.5 million grant for water and sewer upgrades and dam repair at John H. Moss Reservoir in Cleveland County.
State Rep. Larry Hall wants SBI to pursue Gov. McCrory, put staff under oath
This post has been updated. A leading House Democrat has asked the State Bureau of Investigation to look into the actions of Pat McCrory, and may pursue other legal avenues to learn what the governor knew about drinking water advisories and coal ash. At a news conference Monday, House Democratic leader Larry Hall of Durham called for […]
Waterkeepers investigate after coal pile spill at Duke Energy’s Cliffside Plant
This post was updated at 2:45 p.m. to add comments from Duke Energy. Nearly a week after Duke Energy announced that 15,000 to 50,000 gallons of stormwater had spilled from a pile of unburned coal into the Broad River, it is still unknown if there is any contamination from the discharge. Now two riverkeeper groups are […]
North State Journal, staffed by former DEQ and McCrory employees, joins governor in attacking Ken Rudo
This post was updated at 6:15 p.m. As reader Greg Flynn commented below, the writer of the North State Journal article is Jeff Moore, who worked for the McCrory administration and for the state Department of Commerce. More on his résumé, which includes organizing a parade, farther down in the story. Conservative attacks on state […]
Get your hip waders: New EPA report says Wilmington No. 1 in coastal cities for flooding
Since 2010, for an average of 49 days each year — the equivalent of seven weeks — Wilmington has flooded. That figure distinguishes the city as first in the number of coastal flood days in the U.S., a phenomenon spurred by climate change. A series of reports, “Climate Change Indicators,” released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, portends more flooding trouble along the […]